The Red Scarf
by Wicked Is My Life
Summary: The story of how Christine and Raoul first met.


**AN: I updated two weeks in a row! It's a new record!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Phantom Of The Opera, Christine, Raoul, or even the idea for this story.**

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><p>Christine stood at the edge of the sea, letting the cold water rush between her toes. Her shoes were in one hand, and the other held up her skirt so as not to get it wet.<p>

It was a cool autumn day, much too cold for swimming. She was just here to listen to the waves, though. She had finally been able to get away from ballet rehearsals and come to the sea. They had just finished up a show the previous night, so there was no rehearsal that day. The cast had been so busy that summer putting on their performance of Carmen that she had had no free time, and had missed out on visiting the sea all summer.

There was not a soul on the sand. The seagulls flew overhead; their squawking the only sound that could be heard besides the accompaniment of the roar of the waves as they crashed against one another.

The deep emptiness of the sea filled Christine with sadness, as she was all alone and had no one to share its majesty with it. She recalled how father used to take her to the sea every summer. It had become sort of a tradition, just between the two of them.

_We ran hand in hand through the beach, giggling and laughing as we struggled to move our feet through the sand that we continued to kick up behind us. The summer heat beat down our backs, causing beads of sweat to drip down our foreheads._

_As soon as we reached the sea we continued to run into it, letting the water wash away the sand that was stuck to our ankles. My feet hit various shells and pieces of jagged rock, scratching the bottoms of my feet. The water was cool; refreshing, though._

_Once we had ventured further into the sea where the water lapped at our midsection, father picked me up by the waist and threw me up into the sky, so that when I landed I fell deep into the water. I came up completely soaked, smiling._

"_Father!" I cried, gesturing to the fact that I was now wet from head to toe._

_He laughed his signature hearty laugh._

_I pouted, and then flung my arms through the water, creating a huge wave that would land on him with a splash._

A wave came upon Christine, leaving her wet with saltwater from the hem of her skirt down and awakening her from dreamland. She sighed. There was no use in dwelling on the past now; for father was dead. She picked up her skirt and sighed at the sand and seaweed that was now covering a fraction of it.

As the water that had attacked her retreated to its rightful position in the vast basin of blue, she felt the sand being pulled out from under her feet, as if it were trying to drag her into the sea as well. It squished beneath her and pulled against her feet.

A heavy gust of wind hit her in the face, and she tilted her back, letting the wind blow her hair in every direction. The wind became stronger, and before she knew it the red scarf that was wound so tightly around her neck began to come loose. Before she had a chance to grab it, it had untangled itself from her neck and was flying in the wind above the water.

"My scarf!" Christine shouted, reaching out a hand to make a grab at the woolen material. As soon as she reached for it, however, the scarf flew higher and her fingers closed around the empty air.

Christine ran into the ocean, jumping up and down and holding up her skirt while trying to capture the scarf that was soaring higher and further into the sea.

"Don't worry, I've got it!" a voice called out behind her.

Startled, Christine turned around. A boy who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere was running through the water. He jumped up to reach for the scarf, the water sloshing around him. He missed, and jumped again.

This time his fingers clasped around the scarf and he brought it back down with him.

The boy smiled, then graciously offered Christine his hand and led her out of the water.

Once they were safely on the sand, he gently wrapped the scarf around Christine's neck, leaving her blushing.

"Thank you", she said shyly.

"No problem," he responded, then after a beat added, "I'm Raoul".

"Christine," she stated her name.

Christine looked up at Raoul. His hair was a darker shade of blonde that fell loosely across his forehead. His cerulean eyes smiled and radiated happiness.

"Nice to meet you," Raoul stuck out his hand. Christine took his hand and shook it, smiling.

After a moment of silence, Raoul said, "Well, I'd probably better get back. My parents are probably looking for me," he nodded his head somewhere off in the sand.

"Sure," Christine replied.

He nodded at her, then turned around and ran down the beach.

"Thanks for fetching my scarf!" she yelled after him.

He turned his head around, smiled at her, and then continued down the beach into the orange horizon.

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><p><strong>AN: Just some pointless fluff there :)<strong>


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